San Jose Police Officer Under Fire After Threatening Tweets To Protesters

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San Jose police officer Phillip White has been placed on paid administrative leave after taking to Twitter with his opinion on the public outcry against police brutality. As #BlackLivesMatter protests sprung up across the country, White enacted his own hashtag, #CopsLivesMatter in a post where he threatened to use his “God given and law appointed right and duty to kill” if he or his family is threatened:

San Jose police chief Larry Esquivel released a statement regarding White’s tweets, separating the officer’s comments from that of the values of the San Jose Police Department.

“It is extremely important for the community to know the comments made on Officer White’s private social media account do not reflect the thoughts or feelings of the men and women here at the San Jose Police Department,” he said. “Nor do we condone this type of behavior.”

Following his latest display of discontent with the #BlackLivesMatter protests, White’s Twitter account has been deleted. But Buzzfeed was able to unearth earlier tweets from White in which he made other offensive statements about the #ICantBreathe movement and protests in Ferguson.

San Jose Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Heather Randol also released a statement, assuring that authorities are looking into the matter.

“We want to first stress that we are taking the matter very seriously,” she said. “Upon receiving the information, we immediately forwarded the matter up the chain of command for review.”